A YEAR AFTER SHUTTING DOWN, THE WUSA PREPARES FOR A COMEBACK. WILL IT FLY?

In BendIt like Beckham, the soccer movie that has grossed more than $100 million worldwide since 2002 and now incessantly runs on HBO, the two main characters, British teenage girls who dream of becoming the next Mia Hamm, stare at a television screen, jaws agape. They are watching a promo for the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the American professional league that featured the best female players in the world, including Hamm, Brazil's Katia and Bai Jie of China. Brandi Chastain knocks a header into the net. England's Kelly Smith shakes a defender. Unbelievable, the girls say. We can make a...